| Letters/Journals/Diaries |
|
|---|---|
| Author: |
A Union officer |
| Date: |
October and early November 1864 |
| Place of Origin: |
Iowa |
| An explanation of the subject/contents of the document: |
A Union officer's journal that explains what he and the rest of the Iowa volunteer soldiers do everyday. There's not much exciting things happening, just walking around the campgrounds and meeting with other generals. He also mentions how the weather was that day, like whether it was rainy or sunny. |
| Analysis: |
Though these journal entries come from a officer from the Union army, it doesn't seem like there was much to do when there weren't any battles. Throughout the days, the officer mainly walks around the campgrounds or talked to other generals about the war. This seemed just like the book Red Badge of Courage, that was about the Civil War, but the main character never really did anything but stay at the camps and talked with the other soldiers. Also, the officer, along with the other soldiers, had to do work like hauling out some wagons for a few miles. The journal entires also included what the weather was like that day. This was specific because it decided on what the soldiers would do, like either marching or having inspections. |
| Citation: |
"Civil War Diary Continued." Moving to Alaska — Everything You Need to Know. Web. 22 Dec. 2010. <http://www.alaska.net/~design/civilwar/octdiary.html>. |
| Newspaper Articles |
|
|---|---|
| Author: |
N/A |
| Date: |
August 9th, 1862 |
| Title: |
"Battle of Charles City Road" |
| Place of Origin: |
Virginia |
| Brief Summary: |
This article found in Harper's Weekly describes what happened at the Battle of Charles City Road, which was a small battle in Virginia that happened on June 30th, 1862. |
| Analysis: |
Even though this battle wasn't one of the more significant battles during the Civil War, the soldiers from the Union managed to save some divisions from destruction and capture. When I first read the article, I thought that it was just like any other battle I've read about since they all seem the same to me, just different number of deaths. But in the article, it says "the astonishing record of only 12 missing to 228 killed and wounded, a proportion far below the average of most other regiments" so the Union must have defended themselves well in order to keep their death/casualty number lower than most of the other regiments. |
| Citation: |
"Battle of Charles City Road." The Civil War. Web. 22 Dec. 2010. <http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1862/august/battle-charles-city-road.htm>. |
| Image |
|
|---|---|
| Author/Artist/Photographer: |
Timothy H. O'Sullivan |
| Date: |
July 1863 |
| Title: |
A Harvest of Death |
| A copy of the image: |
 |
| Description of the image: |
This picture shows the obvious horror and reality of war. There were thousands of men that died at the Battle of Gettysburg, and they paid their lives for the cost of either preserving the Union or fighting for the Confederacy's freedom. In this picture, the men were "rebels", or fighting for the Confederacy. |
| Analysis: |
When first viewing this picture, you see the true horror of any kind of battle/war, which is death. There are quite a few soldiers from the Confederacy lying there dead after the Battle of Gettysburg had happened. These men are also not clothed very well, considering they don't have shoes, which means that they probably weren't supplied that much. There were over 50,000 soldiers who were killed, wounded, captured, or missing from just the Battle of Gettysburg, and this picture only shows a small percentage of that number. |
| Citation: |
"Plate 36: A Harvest of Death." Gardner's Photographic Sketch Book of the War. Web. 22 Dec. 2010. <http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/7milVol/plate36.html>. |
| Song Lyric |
|
|---|---|
| Author: |
Julia Ward Howe |
| Date: |
The lyrics were written in November 1861, first published in February 1862 |
| Title: |
"The Battle Hymn of the Republic" |
| Place of Origin: |
Howe wrote the lyrics using the music from the abolitionist song "John Brown's Body" and it was first published in The Atlantic Monthly in February 1862. |
| Analysis: |
In this song, Julia Ward Howe wrote about being heroic and courageous when it comes to fighting for what you believe in, for god will help you through it. When first hearing it, one notices the lively beat which then gave the soldiers to fight more for their side. I think that since there is a message of god helping them through this war, it helped a majority of the soldiers go on with battle. Also, it could've helped them believe that since god will help them, or guide them, that they would be invisible and win every battle. Lastly, the lyrics were written even before the first battle had happened, so it could've been mainly written to encourage men to fight for the Union. |
| Citation: |
"The Battle Hymn of the Republic." Public Domain Music. Web. 21 Dec. 2010. <http://www.pdmusic.org/civilwar/cws02.txt>. |